Adjustable display shelving



Aug- 15, 1939- N, H. cEDERQUlsT 2,169,721

ADJUSTABLE DISPLAY SHELVING n' A Filed Maren 5, 1938 H9. l. F19. 2

BY .115mm muw- ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 15, 1939 UNITED s'rfrl-:s

martiri* or'rlcraA ADJUSTABLE DISPLAY SHELVING Nils Herman Cederquist, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application March 5,

Y 7 Claims. This invention relates to improvements in adjustable display shelving and to devices for adjustably mounting the shelves of display shelving on their supporting structures.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive, and durable device by which shelves or trays used for display purposes may be mounted on their supporting structures in such a manner as to enable them to be adjusted into whatever position is desired to properly display articles supported thereon.

In displaying articles of merchandise for sale it is frequently desirable to have the shelves or trays on which the articles are positioned ini clined downwardly and forwardly toward the observer at various angles. vThe position of the tray or shelf that is desired frequently is dependent upon the nature Vof thevarticle or articles displayed thereon. It also frequently occurs that within the same display cabinet or supporting structure it is desired toadjust the trays or shelves forwardly and backwardly and to cause thel trays or shelves to assume various or nonuniform positions within the same supporting structure. 'Ihe improved construction enables a multitude of adjustments so that the articles to be displayed may be most advantageously and tastefully arranged.

With the foregoing and other objects in View, which will be made manifest in the following detailed description and specifically pointed out in the appended claims, reference is had to the accompanying drawing for an illustrative embodiment of the invention, wherein:

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of a display cabinet embodying the p-resent invention;

f Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken substantially upon the line 2 2 upon Figure l in the direction indicated;

Fig. 3 is a partial horizontal section through the left hand standard of the display cabinet shown in Figure 1 and through the adjacent end wall of the tray or shelf supported thereby, illustrating the mechanism employed that permits, of the adjustment;

Fig. 4 is a sectional View taken substantially upon the line lll- 4 upon Fig. 3 in the direction indicated; and

Fig. 5 is a View in perspective illustrating one of the plates forming a part of the present nvention, together with its associated key.

Referring to the accompanying drawing wherein similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout, the invention may be embodied on any suitable structure having shelves or dis- 1938, Serial No. 194,085

play trays supported between standards. I haveV illustrated the invention as having been applied to a display cabinet having standards I0 and I,. the opposed faces of which are horizontally grooved with a series of grooves indicated at I2. 5

Within these grooves are slidably disposed the horizontal iin portions I3 of keys generally designated at I4. These keys may be formed of sheet vmetal and at the ends of the fin portions they are provided with lugs I5 and I6, the metal between these lugs being bent downwardly as indicated at I'I to form a bracing portion. The shelves or trays may be of any preferred construction and are indicated at I8. f

The construction shown has a bottom and upright ends, the ends being indicated at I9 and 2B on each tray. There may be forward walls provided on the trays in the formof plate glass sections 2i, the ends of which are recessed in the inner faces of the end walls I9 and 2E). The outer faces of the end walls I9 and 2t are recessed or grooved with broad shallow grooves 22 and within these grooves there are disposed socket plates 23. Each socket plate is in the form of a flat rectangular section of sheet metal that fits between the top and bottom of each groove 22. It has a central aperture 2d preferably countersunk which receives a fastening screw 25 which is driven therethrough into the end wall of the shelf or tray. Around the aperture 24 as a center there are a plurality of pairs. of circumferentially arranged slots constituting sockets, one pair of slots indicated at 26 and 21 is preferably arranged horizontally even with aperture 2. VA second pair of slots indicated at 28 and 2t, respectively, are radially arranged with respect to aperture 24, slot 28 being arranged above slot 2d and slot 29 being arranged below slot 2l. A third pair of slots indicated at 38 and 3l are also radially arranged, slot 35 being above slot 28 and 405 slot 3l being below slot 29. These slots which form sockets are designed to receive the lugs I5 and IB selectively, that is lugs I5 and I6 may be positioned either in slots 26 and 2l or slots 28 and 29 or slots 30 and 3|. The number of pairs of slots or sockets may be increased or decreased as occasion requires. Recesses 32 and 33 are bored into the end walls of the trays or shelves beneath the groups of slots so as to accommodate those portions of the lugs I5 and I6 that project through the socket plates.

The operation and advantages of this construction are as follows: With the shelves or trays equipped at their ends with the socket plates and the supporting standards I0 and II 55:.

l fil "articles displayed thereon.

provided with the keys and grooves it is possible to give each tray practically any desired position that will most advantageously display the articles positioned thereon. If it is desired to support any or all of the shelves or trays in a horizontal position, the keys are positioned with their lugs I and I6 in the horizontal slots 26 and 2'I and then the fin portions I3 are slidably entered into the grooves I2. By sliding the keys back and forth in the grooves, the shelf may be given any forward or backward adjustment with respect to the supporting standards. When, however, it is desired to support any shelf or tray in an inclined position, the lugs I5 and I6 may be inserted either in socket slots `28 and 29 or 39 and 3|, depending upon the nature of the inclination desired. In either inclined position, the tray may be adjusted forwardly or backwardly by sliding the keys in grooves I2.

It will be noted that in this construction that when the keys are in position in the grooves and socket slots that the trays are locked against rotating either in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction, consequently it is immaterial whether the center of gravity of any tray and the article positioned thereon is forwardly of or behind the center of the support which is through screws 25. Thus, no balancing of articles on the trays or shelves is necessary and the shelves cannot be inadvertently or accidentally tipped to spill the Rotational adjust ment can only be accomplished by sliding the keys out of the ends of the grooves I2, then removing the keys from the socket slots and ref positioning the keys in another pair of socket slots.

It will be appreciated that the present construction is very inexpensive, is highly durable, and may be easily and quickly applied to display shelves and supporting standards therefor.

It will be understood that the present invention may be incorporated in the construction of the display shelves themselves. In other words, if the display shelves have metallic end walls, it is unnecessary to provide the slots 26 to 3|, inclusive, in a separate plate applied thereto. Instead, these slots may be formed directly in the metallic end walls and accommodate the keys IS equally well.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as dened by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A fitting for adjustable display shelving comprising a plate attachable to a shelf or tray, said plate having a plurality of pairs of sockets radially arranged about a center, and a key having lugs selectively receivable in any pair of slots and presenting a n receivable in a groove of a supporting structure.

2. A fitting for adjustable display shelving comprising a plate attachable to a shelf or tray, said plate having a plurality of pairs of sockets radially arranged about a center, and a key having lugs selectively receivable in any pair of slots and presenting a 1in receivable in a groove of a supporting structure, there being a bracing portion between the lugs on the key adapted to lie against the supporting structure.

3. Adjustable display shelving comprising a supporting structure presenting opposed walls, there being substantially horizontal grooves in the walls, shelves disposed between the walls, there being a plurality of sockets in each end of each shelf, and keys selectively receivable in the sockets having portions receivable in the grooves whereby the position of each shelf with respect to its keys may be varied and each shelf may be supported by its keys upon the walls.

4. Adjustable display shelving comprising a supporting structure presenting opposed walls, there being substantially horizontal grooves in the walls, shelves disposed between the walls, there being a plurality of sockets in each end of each shelf, and keys selectively receivable in the sockets having portions receivable in the grooves whereby the position of each shelf with respect to its keys may be varied and each shelf may be supported by its keys upon the walls anywhere along the length of their respective grooves.

5. Adjustable display shelving comprising a supporting structure presenting opposed walls, there being substantially horizontal grooves in the walls, shelves disposed between the walls, there being a plurality of sockets in each end of each shelf, and keys selectively receivable in the sockets having portions receivable in the grooves whereby the position of each shelf with respect to its keys may be varied and each shelf may be supported by its keys upon the Walls, the arrangement being such that the ends of each shelf largely conceal its respective keys when assemb ed.

6. Display shelving comprising a supporting structure presenting opposed walls which are horizontally grooved, shelves between the Walls,

sockets on the ends of the shelves and keys having portions tting in the grooves and fitting in the sockets disposed between the ends of the shelves and the walls whereby the shelves may be supported by the keys and adjusted along the lengths of vthe grooves.

7. Display shelving comprising a supporting structure presenting opposed walls which are horizontally grooved, shelves between the walls, sockets on the ends of the shelves and keys having portions fitting in the grooves and iitting in the sockets disposed between the ends of the shelves and the walls whereby the shelves may be supported by the keys and adjusted along the lengths of the grooves, the keys being largely concealed by the ends of the shelves.

NILS HERMAN CEDERQUIST. 

